Timeline - Key Dates: All Countries

2019 ABORTION ACCESS RESTRICTED

Government introduces restrictive amendments

1990s-2000s ABORTION ACCESS RESTRICTED

Conscientious Objectors: High number of doctors refuse to provide abortion (despite Legge 194)

1978 ABORTION DECRIMINALIZED

Passage of Legge 194 - legalizes Therapeutic Abortion, up to 90 days

1971-75 ABORTION RESTRICTIONS REMOVED

The Court Strikes The Rocco Code; Removal of Ban on Birth Control and Abortion-Related Information

1946 Women given RIGHT TO VOTE

1930 ABORTION CRIMINALIZED

The Rocco Penal Code under Fascism classifies abortion as a crime against “the integrity and health of the race”

1800 - 1900s ABORTION REMAINS CRIMINALbut Rarely Prosecuted

1700 - 1800s ABORTION CONSIDERED A MORAL SIN AND A CRIME

Inconsistent Enforcement; Courts prioritize social order and honor over punishment​

2024 ABORTION STILL CRIMINALIZED

Indian Penal Code still criminalizes those who knowingly cause miscarriages, discouraging providers. Abortions remain unaffordable to poor and lower caste women. 67% of abortions considered unsafe, 8% maternal mortality.

2022 ABORTION ON MATERIAL GROUNDS

Supreme Court rules that change in material circumstances is a qualified reason to seek abortion

2021 ABORTION ACCESS EXPANDED

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act; Gestational Limit 20 Weeks

2021 MTP Amendment Act amended limit from 20 to 24 weeks, expanding access to unmarried women

2001 ABORTION ACCESS EXPANDED

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act integrates access in public and private sectors

1971 ABORTION DECRIMINALIZED

Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act Codifies Right to a Safe Abortion, within a Indian Law Gestational Limit of 12 Weeks with 1 doctor authorization; 20 weeks with 2 doctors

1950 Women gain universal RIGHT TO VOTE, along with new Constitution

1947 Indian Independence (Partition)

1860 ABORTION LEGALLY CRIMINALIZED

Indian Penal Code – Under British Colonial Rule

PRE 1800s ABORTION IN ANCIENT TEXTS

Ayurveda and other texts mention herbal and surgical abortion methods

2024 ELECTIVE ABORTION LEGAL - 18 States

Abortion Remains Illegal - 13 States

2021 ABORTION DECRIMINALIZED

Supreme Court rules penalizing abortion unconstitutional

1980 ABORTION ACCESSIBLE in some States as Family Planning Procedures

1953 Women given RIGHT TO VOTE

1931 ABORTION ILLEGAL with some exceptions

2022 ABORTION DECRIMINALIZED

Constitutional Declaration, Gestational Limit 24 Weeks

2006 ABORTION PARTIALLY DECRIMINALIZED

Under Circumstance: Right to Life

1980 ABORTION CRIMINALIZED

1957 Women given RIGHT TO VOTE

2019 ABORTION AS A FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

High Court Recognition

2010 ABORTION INTRODUCED IN THE CONSTITUTION

Based on Health

1990 ABORTION OPPOSED

Religious leaders push for intense restrictions

1963 Women given RIGHT TO VOTE

DATE? ABORTION LAW EXPANDED Up to 24 weeks under certain circumstances

2014 ABORTION LEGALIZED

Expanded from 12 weeks to 16 weeksUnder certain circumstances

Pre-2014 ABORTION BANNED

Permitted before 12 weeks only under strict life-saving or health reason

2003 MAPUTO PROTOCOL

The African Union meets in Mozambique to ratify the Maputo Protocol for women’s rights, most countries agreeing to reproductive rights in cases of rape, incest, and threat of harm.

1993 Forum Mulher, (network of 100 women’s rights groups) advocate to decriminalize abortion and reform Mozambique’s Family Code.

1975 Women gain RIGHT TO VOTE and equal rights under the Constitution

1964–1974 Women fighters and non-combatants are integral to FRELIMO’s armed movement for independence. FRELIMO incorporates Organization of Mozambican Women.

2024 ABORTION RIGHTS REAFFIRMED

Laws maintained

2023 WOMEN-LED ORGS PROVIDE CARE

Abortion Support South Africa and Marie Stopes Org begin a national effort to provide affordable abortion pills through telemedicine.

1996 CHOICE ON TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY ACT

Post-Apartheid Government expands Access:

On demand: 12 Weeks; Broader conditions: 20 Weeks

1994 Women of all races gain RIGHT TO VOTE

1975 ABORTION AND STERILIZATION ACT

Apartheid Government further restricts access, allowing Therapeutic Abortion, with two doctor approval.Safe abortion only available to white women.

1960- 1994 ANTI-APARTHEID MOVEMENT

Activists lead decades of struggle against racist policies, including the denial of healthcare to Black citizens.

1910-60s ABORTION REMAINS CRIMINALIZED

Strict Restrictions as a Union under British Rule

1800 ABORTION CRIMINALIZED

Under Dutch and British colonial rule

2024 NEW ABORTION LAW PASSED

Prop. 117 L Extends self-determination to 18 weeks, fully funded

1978 SELF-DETERMINED ABORTION INTRODUCED with Law on Gender Equality

Permitted up to 12 Weeks; Maintains Board System after 12 Weeks

1974 Formation of Women’s Campaign for Abortion Upon Request, and other groups

1971 Marital rape becomes illegal

1964 FIRST POST-WAR ABORTION ACT Abortion Illegal except in cases of harm to the mother

1943 ABORTION ACCESS RESTRICTED

Nazi Occupation enforces Pro-Natal policies and Eugenics

1913 All Women gain RIGHT TO VOTE, previously only for wealthy women

1842 FIRST NORWEGIAN CRIMINAL LAW

Death penalty abolished; Punishment: Hard Labor

Pre-1800s ABORTION CRIMINALIZEDChristian Law: Abortion equated with infanticide, Punishment Death Penalty

2020-2021 All Poland Women’s Strike demands legal abortion, full women’s rights, and an end to Catholic church imposition

2020 ABORTION ACCESS RESTRICTED

Government bans abortion due to fetal abnormalities, imposes near-total ban except in cases of risk to woman’s life, rape, or incest.

2016 BLACK PROTEST

Against a proposed abortion ban

1997 ABORTION RESTRICTION REINSTATEDConstitutional Tribunal rules abortion on social grounds is unconstitutional

1996 ABORTION RESTRICTIONS PARTIALLY REMOVEDAbortion on social grounds liberalized

1993 ANTI-ABORTION LAW

Abortion became almost completely inaccessible with less than 200 abortions officially performed annually

1989 END OF COMMUNIST RULE

Conservatives supported by Catholic Church pushed for total abortion ban.

1959 ABORTION ON REQUEST permitted

1956 ABORTION LIBERALIZED But with significant barrier to abortion service

1932 ABORTION PARTIALLY DECRIMINALIZED Under circumstances : resulted from a crime or health/life at risk

1918 Women given RIGHT TO VOTE

Pre 1932 ABORTION CRIMINALIZED

Government introduces restrictive amendments

2022 AUG

National Health Authority issues guidance against “non-medically necessary” abortions.

2021 JULYCHILD POLICY REMOVED & NEW ABORTION GUIDELINE INTRODUCED Financial incentives to encourage childbirth; reduce non-medical purpose abortion

2021 MAYTHREE-CHILD POLICY INTRODUCED

2015 TWO-CHILD POLICY INTRODUCED

2005 ABORTION BASED ON SEX-SELECTION IS CRIMINALIZED

In some regions, approval and certificate must be obtained from the Family Planning Administrative Department for abortion after 14 weeks

2004 ABORTION ACCESS REGIONALLY RESTRICTIVE

Guizhou City restricts non-medical purpose abortion after 14 weeks to prevent sex-selective abortion.

Mid-1980s ONE-CHILD POLICY LOOSENED

Rural parents were allowed to have a second child if the first was a daughter

1979 ABORTION FORCED UNDER ONE-CHILD POLICY

Women were also forced to use contraception and undergo sterilization

1960s ABORTION ACCESS EXPANDED

During Early Family Planning Campaigns, but no formal law existed

1954 Constitution grants women equal political rights

1949 PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ERA

ROC Law abandoned, no formal national abortion law

1935 ABORTION PARTIALLY DECRIMINALIZED

Under circumstances: risk of health/life

1912 REPUBLIC OF CHINA ERA

1907 ABORTION CRIMINALIZED

Inspired by Western legal system, Great Qing Criminal Code criminalized abortion

Pre 1907 ABORTION NOT FORMALLY REGULATED

Abortion induced traditional herbal medicine, such as Chinese aconite, was used in traditional abortion practices.

1821 ABORTION OUTLAWED

Connecticut outlaws using poisons to cause abortion after “quickening.” Ten more states create such laws within ten years

1847 ABORTION CARE CRIMINALIZED

The American Medical Association criminalizes care by midwives & folk healers; requires licensed practitioners

1910 ABORTION ILLEGAL

In every state, at every stage. Allowed to save the pregnant person’s life, a decision made by Doctors

1930 UNSAFE ABORTIONS

Cause 1 in 5 maternal deaths

1973 ABORTION A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT

Roe v. Wade legalized abortion before the point of fetal viabilit

The Hyde Amendment limits use of Federal Funds such as Medicaid

1992 ABORTION RESTRICTED

Planned Parenthood v. Casey allows states to impose tighter restrictions

2007 NEW LIMITS ON ABORTION

Congress limits specific second-trimester procedures; removes the priority to protect the patient’s health

2022 ABORTION STATE REGULATIONS ENFORCED

The Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade; regulations shift to individual states; some enact total bans

2025 ABORTION PILLS IN QUESTION

The Supreme Court soon to hear a case classifying pills as “high-risk” drugs. Limiting telehealth and mail orders